On Arranging and Such

I have returned from the Great White North. Canada really is a beautiful country. And hopefully, this summer, (when it’s warm) I can visit more of it. I have applied to two summer music programs, one in Toronto and one in Montreal. Hopefully, the odds will be in my favor and I can spend some more time in Canada. Below is a picture from Winterlude of a piano made of ice! Because Canada! You can follow me on Instagram to see other pictures from my trip, as well as daily musings.

In other news, this September, a friend of mine from school is getting married. I am always glad to share in my friends’ good news! She as asked me to play piano at her wedding, which is awesome! I’m in the process of creating an arrangement of a piece that another friend of hers wrote for the ceremony. The original file is for piano, guitar, voice, and percussion and I’m making into a piano vocal score. This is turning out to be quite the learning experience for me because, while I dabbled in some arranging in my orchestration class at Campbell, that is my only experience with arranging. So far, at least, I am enjoying the project. The song is beautiful and figuring out which voice should play which part is kind of like a puzzle that I’m enjoying putting together. But it is turning out to be a long process. I’m about halfway done with the notation. The next step is to print and see what is actually playable and what I need to tweak to make more accessible. And then it’s just practice, practice, practice until September.